Article archives

MI weekly selection #400

MI weekly selection #400

Weekly Selection

By César Tomé

Unique electron bursts observed by space probes Probes from NASA’s Voyager spacecraft have detected a peculiar type of electron burst in a quiet region of space. The unusual thing about the bursts is that they appear to precede shock waves significantly in what study co-author Don Gurnett has called “a brand-new mechanism.” Gizmodo Quantum supremacy […]

An exotic magnetic topological heterostructure

An exotic magnetic topological heterostructure

Condensed matterDIPC Advanced materialsMaterials

By DIPC

Topological insulators are electronic materials that have a bulk band gap like an ordinary insulator but have conducting states on their edge or surface. The conducting surface is not what makes topological insulators unique, but the fact that it is protected due to the combination of spin-orbit interactions and time-reversal symmetry. Inducing magnetism in topological […]

Modelling the dynamics of COVID-19 first wave

Modelling the dynamics of COVID-19 first wave

HealthMathematicsMedicine

By BCAM

In March 2020, a multidisciplinary task force (so-called Basque Modelling Task Force, BMTF) was created to assist the Basque health managers and Government during the COVID-19 responses. BMTF works creating a model based on different approaches: stochastic processes, statistical methods and artificial intelligence. The efforts and challenges to develop a flexible modelling framework able to […]

MI weekly selection #399

MI weekly selection #399

Weekly Selection

By César Tomé

Calcite layers boost hardness of ants’ bodies A layer of calcite covers the bodies of leaf-cutting worker ants, allowing them to take on much bigger enemy ants, according to findings published by Nature Communications. Researchers tested ants with and without the thin calcite layer and found that the mineral makes the ants’ exoskeletons at least […]

Strong coupling between propagating phonon polaritons and organic molecules observed for the first time

Strong coupling between propagating phonon polaritons and organic molecules observed for the first time

Condensed matterMaterials

By DIPC

The so-called van der Waals materials consist of two-dimensional layers bound by weak van der Waals forces. After the isolation of graphene, the field of two-dimensional van der Waals materials has experienced an explosive growth and new families of two-dimensional systems and block-layered bulk materials have been created. This growth has been fuelled mainly by […]

Coronavirus in the brain

Coronavirus in the brain

Neurobiology

By José Ramón Alonso

To date, more than 50 million people have been infected with the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, and more than 1,2 million have died. It is a global problem, affecting everyone, but we are still learning how it infects, how it behaves, what causes harm to humans. The virus is spread by the droplets produced by an […]

MI weekly selection #398

MI weekly selection #398

Weekly Selection

By César Tomé

New Horizons finds light in the darkness of space The New Horizons space probe, which has moved beyond its exploration of Pluto, has found evidence that space itself has its own glow. When researchers removed visible light sources from images of the open universe sent back from the space probe, now about 4 billion miles […]

Magnetism in graphene nanoribbons induced by a pair of boron atoms

Magnetism in graphene nanoribbons induced by a pair of boron atoms

Condensed matterDIPC Electronic PropertiesMaterials

By DIPC

Graphene nanoribbons (GNRs), are strips of graphene with ultra-thin width (<50 nm). Graphene ribbons, introduced as a theoretical model by Mitsutaka Fujita and coauthors to examine the edge and nanoscale size effect in graphene, have emerged as a promising material for nano electronics, as they combine many of the extraordinary properties of graphene with a […]